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S ydney Gualtieri made quite a splash in her first varsity sea- son on the Abington Heights swim team.

A year after reaching the PIAA Class AAA championship meet, the sophomore is reaching for higher goals and is ready to lead the Lady Comets as they defend their Wyoming Valley Conference Northern Division title.

"Last season was great," Gualtieri said. "I had never been part of a championship team before. We worked hard all season and we did very well. We really want to continue that this season."

As a freshman, Gualtieri played a major role in claiming that title.

Competing in the 100-yard breaststroke, she earned a gold medal at the District 2 Class AAA championship meet. Her time of 1 minute, 9.17 seconds was nearly five seconds faster than her time at the Lackawanna County Championship meet.

That raised her expectations.

"That was really great," Gualtieri said. "I made the transition from age-group swimming to varsity swimming pretty well. The competition is a lot tougher on varsity but that certainly made you want to swim better.

"I felt that I improved my times over the season and my work ethic in practice really improved."

After trying out several different sports, Gualtieri has found her niche in swimming. She played softball, basketball and soccer, but never found a passion for them.

Starting in fourth grade, she began to swim competitively and hasn't slowed down yet.

In addition to her gold-medal effort in the 100 breast, Gualtieri finished fourth in the 200 individual medley. She also earned two more gold medals as a member of the 200 medley relay and the 200 free relay teams.

Those finishes encouraged her to work hard in the offseason with long hours in the pool.

"After last season, I felt that I really needed to keep training hard," Gualtieri said. "I want to have a good season and have my times continue to drop.

"I know that it is going to take a lot of work, but I am really looking forward to competing."

Around the WVC North

In addition to Gualtieri, there are several members of last season's All-Region team returning.

Scranton Prep's Mia Nonnenberg, a nationally ranked swimmer at various distances, is back after a record-smashing sophomore season. She set District 2 Class AA and Lackawanna County meet records in the 200 individual medley, 500 free and the 100 butterfly, while also earning a silver and bronze medal at the PIAA championship meet.

Scranton Prep teammate Katie Voitek is also back. She won a district gold medal in the 200 free and a silver to Nonnenberg in the 500 free.

Also returning is Holy Cross junior Megan Carey, who won District 2 Class AA gold medals in the 100 free and the 100 backstroke.

Wallenpaupack junior Baileigh Vanderhoof won District 2 Class AAA and Lackawanna County silver medals in the 100 fly and the 100 breast last season.

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